Month: November 2010

Thanksgiving has come and gone. We told everyone in our circle of influence what we are “thankful” for. Some say they are thankful for family and friends. Some say they are thankful for having a job. Some say they are just thankful just to be alive. All those things are good and we should be thankful to God for providing all of those things for us. However, it is what we as Americans in general and Christians in particular are really thankful for that concerns me.

When I see people that line up around stores and face the bitter cold, and in some cases stay in front of a store all night just so they can get that the one item the store has on sale at a ridiculously low price, is beyond belief. What is worse is that when the stores finally open, the behavior of our countrymen have sunken to such a low level, that they are willing to trample and even injure people just to get to that item. My question would be how many of those people would go to church and worship God on Sunday morning, knowing that they were the same ones that stepped on the hand or the face of their fellow man on Friday morning?

Most of us have seen the video of such activity that goes on year after year and think it is no big deal. Yet what we don’t understand is that this is a prelude of things to come. While we don’t have physical martial law in here, we do have economic martial law in place. With the passage of S.510 (read the bill here) in the Congress and the bill on its way to Obama’s desk to sign, the stampede won’t be at the local toy or electronic store, it will be at the local grocery store. Why? Because the economy will collapse, panic in the streets will ensue and people will fight for the most prized possession in an economic depression – food. More valuable than gold at the time, people will be in the most desperate of situations and will attempt to survive any way they can, up to stealing from and even killing a person for a portion to eat. That is when you know the Black Horse of the Apocalypse is here. When it takes a day’s wages just to buy a loaf of bread, that’s when you know he is in control.

This is why the practical is just as – if not more important than the spiritual. Has any believer ever wondered if the Gospel became illegal and that those you’re “preaching” to has not eaten in 3 days but you have no way of feeding them, will they listen to what you have to say? This is the very situation we are facing in this country. We now have a government in place that is on the verge of controlling every aspect of our lives. From what we can grow in our yards to the type of words you can use, are you willing to obey those laws of the land?

I can already hear the hyper spiritual crowd chanting, “God is in control”. He is. However God is limited – yes limited, by YOUR CHOICE. On November 2, God may have been with you in the voting booth, but you cast the vote. No different than the men of the city who wanted a king instead God ruling over them (see I Samuel 8:5) The time is NOW to repent AND ACT! Don’t quote II Chronicle 7:14 until you are ready to ACT on Proverbs 29:2 Jesus said “Occupy until I come” (see Luke 19:13). To occupy is a militaristic term which speaks of displacing the present people in control. What have you done to do that? Who have you educated, or did you just pray that “God’s will” be done?

You have heard me say this on previous entries and it bears repeating again: We are at a crossroads In our nation. Depending on our choice we will see God’s mercy toward us come down because our repentance went up toward Him first. The alternative is that we the Church in America continues on with the “business as usual” mindset in our churches and communities thinking that “This is America, God would never allow that to happen”. If we choose that path, we will find out in short order how miserable, poor, blind, wretched, and naked we really are.

This is not a game Church. The hour is that late and the consequences are that serious. You will bow your knee to either the courts of this land that you chose, or the Court of Heaven that chose you.

Keep your knee flexible. In either realm you choose, you will be doing a lot of bowing.

Now that the elections are over and the “transition” teams are in Washington, D.C. working to give us the Congress we voted for, do we really know what we’re getting? Did we actually turn away from the American version of socialism that Obama preached as a candidate and the Church in America did not catch on to because we were asleep, or is this the beginning of the awakening process followed by a reformation movement that would make the Black Robe Regiment preachers of the past proud? Only time will tell.

We are truly in the 11th hour (to me it feels like 11:55), Where the freedoms that our Founders fought, bled, and died for is being handed over to a tyrannical government that has been in the making for over 100 years. One of those very freedoms our Founders fought for is the ability to speak freely without government intrusion. How ironic is it that have we’ve been told in our churches to “Obey the laws of the land”, yet when it comes to speaking on a political issue from the pulpit or even general conversation, why are we are too afraid to obey that one? It can not be stressed enough that the freedoms we have and cherish in America are a gift from God and that we the Church in America are mandated by Him to steward those freedoms.

A Senate bill has just passed out of committee and on its way for a vote on the floor. It is known as the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act or S.3804 (You can view the bill here). The purpose of the bill is to fight counterfeit goods and to protect intellectual property, which on its surface is a good thing. However, the enforcement part of the bill is so vague that the Attorney General can shut down websites that can be classified as “infringing” on another’s persons rights. Like all modern government laws, the burden of proof have shifted from the agency to the individual, and an immunity clause is provided so that the government can not be sued (see Section 2324 subsection 3).

What does this mean? A Pastor who preaches a message on sin and posts that message online could have the website shut down because a person’s emotions were infringed upon – which an activist judge could classify as “intellectual property” and thereby the government would now have the ability to have a warrant issued and have the site shut down.

What can we do now besides prayer? Two things. One, contact your U.S. Senator and them to vote “NO” on this bill when it comes to the floor. Two, realize that this action comes from the Congress that WE – not God elected and that this bill is designed to tighten the “noose” around our necks so that we will be dragged into a police state kicking and screaming or that we as the Church in America are thrown over the cliff of history and will be permanently disposed of.

The solution: Find the sword (the Word of God) and cut the rope of tyranny from around our necks, or face the reality that we have deceived ourselves, lied to our brothers and sisters in Christ, and the pledge, fight and lives of our Founders gave were for nothing. Either way the choice is ours, not God’s. Be prepared to live with this for all eternity.

Now that the mid-term elections have concluded – amidst some documented incidents of voter fraud in some states; Where do we go from here? Before I talk about where we are going, I think we need to examine where we are at and how we got here as a nation.

I think we can trace the starvation for godly leadership back to 1954 when then Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson had the IRS tax code amended stating that preachers can not endorse a candidate for public office or lose their tax-exempt status. In my opinion, that was the year the spiritual famine had entered the land. When the preachers complied with the government’s edict as to being told what to do instead of the preacher convincing (and at times convicting) us to tell the government what to do, we became the puppet that they wanted instead of the Church that God wanted.

From that year to present day we have been comfortable as the Church in America to eat the asses’ head and dove’s dung (see II Kings 6:24-25) that the preacher served and the government mandated, that we should eat. What is classified as “asses’ head and dove’s dung” in this modern age? When you are more inclined to listen to teaching that tells you you’re “ok”, and that you are comfortable sitting in a pew hearing a sermon that sounds more like a self-help seminar rather than the convicting power of the Word of God, you might be eating asses’ head. When the talk you surround yourself with is about what God has done in the past, instead how can God use us in the day in which we live in – (other than witnessing, of course) you may have gorged yourself on dove’s dung and not even know it.

What does this have to do with the elections? Plenty. Having a “changing of the guard” does not mean righteousness have been necessarily elected. Remember, the “R” behind a candidate’s name stands for Republican, not righteousness. When you examine the party’s voting record as a whole, the only difference between them and the Democrat’s is that they want to reach the same objective – only slower.

Where do we go from here? Although continued prayer for our country is desperately needed, the change that really needs to happen is in the mindset of the Church in America. We need to examine what those in the pulpit teach us in the Word of God concerning how we are to live in this hour. In other words, what you hear on Sunday morning at 11:00am should be a confirmation of when you talked to God last.

Now that the “change” has occurred, will you hold those that you – not God elected accountable to Scriptural principles? Will you Pastor, speak more frequently to the congregation regarding the stewardship of their rights and freedoms and not just their tithe? Will we, the Church in America finally rise up in our “Esther” moment and seize the day that is upon us now? That we show the nation what righteous government could look like. Always remember, it is easier to preach the Gospel under a canopy of freedom than a curtain of tyranny.

So to answer the question, “is the famine over”? That all depends on your choice. If we decide as the Church in America to go back to sleep, the next question will be asked, “How would you like your asses’ head: Baked, boiled or barbecued”?